23 February 2011

Tiller Update


As many of you know, I really, really, REALLY try to put the best spin on the metaphorical bumps in our farm road but I give up on Husqvarna. Their machine is a lovely thing to behold and it 'does what it says on the tin' but good golly it's a pain to change a belt or get help from their customer service department!

The problem with the thing is that I struck a rock which hit the belt thereby causing it to pop and turn inside-out. It also created about a four inch gash along the inner side. Too bad it was a Saturday afternoon. Our local dealer closes early (as do all the independent farm supply type places) and Husqvarna Customer Support is closed on weekends.

Monday was a bit less organized than I desired so I didn't get by the dealer like I ought to have. Silly me, I thought, "Customer Service is open until 8 PM EST, they'll help me." Turns out Customer Support is only for ordering parts. There is no technical support. And they hung up on me before I could ask for a replacement manual. You see, my English Language manual is bound with randomly ocuring French pages instead of English ones. Calling back, I was able to request a free copy from a nice gal who did not suddenly hang up on me.

Tuesday, I picked up a new belt from Wonderful John of T & E Small Engine. It takes two sizes of wrench to get the cover off. I also needed to remove a wheel. It took me an hour to ease the belt off due to an interfering bolt which holds the cover on. I was ready to blow a fuse. Thankfully at the moment of my most creative swearing my dear friend Miss J. called and we had a lovely conversation.

Today I talked to Wonderful John again. Seems I have to remove that bolt too. We had a laugh at the expense of engineers and I am not sorry about it. It takes yet another size wrench (and maybe a vise grip too) to get that one off and it'd best be a short one because there's little clearance. After walking back and forth to the house three times, I slipped the cover on and went off in search of a cuddly dog and a nice cupa before i blew my top.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get the darned thing going again and have a few rows tilled before the rain sets in for the weekend. I'd really like to sow my oats!

2 comments:

Lausanne said...

I'd trade that Husky in on a reliable, easy to fix, Troy-Bilt that offers excellent service and a thoroughly comprehensible service manual if I were you!

Unknown said...

I'm thinking about it.....